


The Contestants (May The Best Man Win)

by novera_nope



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Pianist, M/M, Piano
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23284252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novera_nope/pseuds/novera_nope
Summary: Thor Odinson and Loki Laufeyson meet at the yearly piano contest held at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp. They don't exactly hit it off.“Good luck to you,Thor,” Laufeyson said. It sounded about as sincere as, well, everything else he’d been saying.
Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 71





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> A short piano AU. I own nothing, just playing with the boys! This will be updated daily.

Thor was in his element as he walked up the grand marble stairs of the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. He was looking forward to the piano contest that was being held there that evening – after all, he’d won it last year. Hands down. 

He grinned, taking a look at the plastic badge he’d been handed upon entering. 

_Thor Odinson_ , it read. _Contestant n°: 7 – scheduled time of performance: 21:05. Rehearsal room: 214._

Thor knew the place, so he found his way easily through the maze that was the music academy. However, when he arrived at the room assigned to him, the melody of one of Liszt’s Sonnets of Petrarch came floating through the door and he realized there was already someone in it. 

Instead of barging in, he just stood there, utterly captivated. He’d never played this particular piece himself, but he’d attended several performances of it and not one of them could compare to this one. Not only did the performer need to have hands about the size of his own to be able to pull this off so effortlessly, but he also had to be incredibly talented. There was a lightness in the notes, such _feeling_ – it simply took Thor’s breath away. 

When the music had faded, Thor knocked and entered the room without awaiting an answer. There was indeed someone seated at the piano and Thor’s eyes immediately flew to the hands resting on the keys. They weren’t large, but the fingers were so long and spindly they’d certainly do the trick. 

Then he looked at the rest of the intruder, only to find his throat go dry. The man sitting on the bench was… a piece of art. He was already dressed up in a dark green suit and the scowl on his face did nothing to diminish his beauty – lean frame, pointed face surrounded by long black waves, piercing green eyes. Eyes that were currently looking at him in annoyance. 

Thor cleared his throat. “Yeah, erm, I’m sorry for interrupting, but this room was assigned to me, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You _are_ mistaken,” the man snapped. 

“I’m quite sure I’m not,” Thor retorted, looking pointedly at his badge. “Who are you, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever met you in any other competition.”

The question seemed to lighten the other performer’s spirits, for his eyes lit up as he answered. “I’m sure you didn’t. But you might have heard about me.” He stood in a graceful movement and Thor was surprised to find he was almost as tall as himself. “Loki Laufeyson.” 

Oh. Thor _had_ heard about him. The press was full of praise for him. _Laufeyson is an upcoming talent, bound to pose a major challenge to today’s established pianists!_

That didn’t make him any more entitled to this room, however. 

“Well, Loki Laufeyson, as much as it is a pleasure to meet you, it would be nice to finally be able to start preparing myself for the contest, if you don’t mind. This is room 214, after all.” He all but pushed his badge in Laufeyson’s face. “214, you see?”

“Oops.” Loki grinned widely and made a show of looking down at his own badge. “My mistake, then. Oh, I’m supposed to be in 114. I must have missed a floor.” He put his things together and went for the door, still smiling. When he was almost there, he turned around. “And you are –?”

“Thor Odinson,” he replied curtly, though he was sure Laufeyson knew exactly who he was. There wasn’t a pianist in the world who didn’t. 

“Then good luck to you, _Thor_.” It sounded about as sincere as, well, everything else he’d been saying. 

When he’d finally left, Thor put on his own black suit and sat down behind the piano for a final rehearsal of his Schubert sonata. 

It was only when he wanted to drink some water that he found Laufeyson had left him none. The snacks were also gone. _Jerk._

Almost at the same time, he remembered that the rooms on the first floor only had upright piano’s to practise on – not quite the grand piano’s that the second floor had to offer. It had to be the reason why Laufeyson had been here. 

_So he wasn’t above some trickery._ Thor would do well to remember that. And to _not_ remember the utter beauty of the man. 

When Jane, the event manager, came to escort him to the auditorium for his performance, he was quite ready. He absolutely nailed it, and a few hours later he found out he’d won the contest. 

He couldn’t help thinking about Laufeyson, feeling utterly smug. 

_Serves you right, you bastard._


	2. During

During the next few weeks, Thor couldn’t seem to keep his mind from wandering to Laufeyson more often than he would’ve liked. 

When he asked his father – who was also his teacher – about him, it earned him a strange look, but still Odin told him what he knew: how Laufeyson had grown up in an orphanage, how his natural talent had been discovered only by accident, how he’d been adopted by one of the most famous piano teachers in the U.K. and how, from that point on, he’d won every single junior contest there was to win in the whole of Europe. 

***

“You’re obsessed with him,” his friend, Fandral, stated. 

“I’m not!” Thor protested. “I’ve only met him once and I dare say we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”

Fandral looked at him pointedly. “And yet here you are, in a bar, ranting about him all evening.”

Thor said nothing and downed his beer. 

***

If Thor was looking forward to the annual contest in Stuttgart, even more so than usual, it had nothing to do with the fact that Loki – and when had Laufeyson become _Loki_ in his head? – was probably going to be there. Still, he was bound to run into him, right? Loki wasn’t likely to pass up on the opportunity to compete in one the most prestigious contests in Europe. 

When he entered the rehearsal room that had been prepared for him, he realized he was almost disappointed to find it empty. He let out a small laugh. Really, what had he been expecting? 

He sat down on the bench and started his final rehearsal of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G minor. 

***

Thor loved the moment right before a performance. Someone in the audience was still coughing, but he barely registered the sound. Everything around him started to fade until it was just him and the piano, his focus solely on the first measures of the Prelude, already playing inside his head. 

He put his hands on the keys, took a deep breath, and he started thundering on the piano. It sounded exactly like he wanted it to – this piece was made for him, he knew that. 

After a couple of minutes, right before the recapitulation of the first section, Thor was pulled from his bubble as he suddenly registered a movement in the wing right in front of him. There was someone there, standing in the shadows – when Thor’s eyes focused on the tall figure, he realized it was Loki. 

He kept on playing as Loki was staring at him, rapt, but then he made the mistake of meeting his gaze. Their eyes locked and Thor swore he could feel an actual jolt of electricity course between them. 

Thor missed a beat. 

It was only a minor hesitation – he knew nobody in the audience had even noticed it, but he also knew the jury sure as hell _had_. 

He finished the prelude neatly, but he was fully aware that his chances were gone. He’d lost. And indeed, in the end, it was Loki who won the 35th Stuttgart piano contest with his performance of one of Chopin’s Etudes. 

***

“You utter bastard!” Thor yelled, barging into Loki’s rehearsal room after the proclamation. “You did that on purpose!”

He was positivily _seething_. Loki seemed to realize that, as he put his hands up in a placating gesture. “I did not, I swear! If I’d known, I never would have –"

“Never would have _what_ , Loki?” Thor bellowed. “Crept up on me while I was _in the middle of my performance_? In the hopes of _ruining_ it like you did?”

“No!” Loki had the gall to look affronted. “Of course not! If I am to best you, I’d like it to be on my own merits rather than some trick!”

Thor was taken aback by the vehemence in his voice. “Then what on earth were you doing there?”, he asked, more calmly. 

“I was admiring you, you oaf.” The words seemed to come out of his mouth on their own, for a fierce blush spread across Loki’s face. “I – I first saw you perform when I was only 15. You were – it was captivating. I just wanted to...”

He had turned positively crimson and Thor took pity on him. “Alright,” he sighed, raking a head through his hair. “Alright. Just – don’t do it again.” He turned to leave. 

“I won’t.” Loki sounded genuinely sorry, although Thor still doubted Loki was ever genuine. “Thor?”

“Yes,” he said, hand already on the door knob. 

“How come I startled you like that? I mean, there were over a thousand people watching you – what’s one more to you?” Loki sounded curious.

 _Because it was you_ seemed like a dumb answer, so Thor just shook his head and opened the door. 

“Maybe you should consider that, thunderer,” he heard Loki say as he left.


	3. After

“So he’s just as obsessed with you as you are with him,” Fandral noted. 

Thor choked on his beer. “What? Of course not! He was _listening to me play_ , Fandral.”

“If he wanted to listen, he could’ve just downloaded you on Spotify,” Fandral said dryly. “Besides, he stood there lurking in the dark, surreptitiously watching you from the shadows – sounds like an obsessed person, if you ask me.” He swallowed the last of his drink. “Or a creep, maybe,” he added. 

“He’s _not_ a – never mind.” Thor gave up and signaled to the bartender. “Could I have two more, please?”

“Oh, come on, Thor,” Fandral pushed. “Just admit it. You want him and he wants you just as bad.”

***

When the time for the Steinway contest at London’s Royal College of Music arrived, Thor was ready – both for the contest and for Loki. 

He would be performing one of Schubert’s late impromptus and he’d been working his ass off to get it just right, so he was confident he’d do well. As for Loki – well, maybe _ready_ might’ve been stretching it. 

But first things first, Thor thought upon entering the impressive building. 

***

The evening went well. Loki left him alone before and during his performance, which did wonders for his concentration. He was able to focus exclusively on the impromptu and the result was impeccable, earning him a standing ovation from the audience. 

When he left the auditorium and went back to his room, he was still high on the adrenaline coursing through his veins. 

“Thor!” Loki whirled around on the stool in front of the piano as he entered. _He’d been expecting this. He was ready._ “I heard you were to play right after me – you’re finished?” Loki looked about the same as he supposed he himself did at this moment, for his usually pale face was flushed and his eyes glittered with excitement. 

Thor didn’t answer, for it had been a stupid question anyway, but he did make a point by closing the door ostentatiously. 

Loki seemed oblivious. “Why is it you always get the grand piano’s, while I’m always stuck with –"

“Loki.” His voice sounded hoarse, and something in it must have given Loki pause, for he shut his mouth and looked at him, searching his face. Then a smirk settled on his features. “Ah. So you figured it out, did you?” 

Thor met his gaze without flinching, and there it was, again – the strange, undeniable pull between them. Unconsciously, he stepped closer until he was standing right in front of Loki. “Stand up,” he said. 

His heart was stammering in his chest and he didn’t know whether it was the lingering adrenaline rush or Loki’s closeness that caused it. He brought his hand up to tangle in Loki’s hair, cupping the back of his head. “This is what you want, yes?”

“Yes,” Loki said emphatically, his hands coming up to Thor’s broad shoulders, tugging at the black coat. “Please.”

Thor bent down slightly and the next moment they were kissing frantically. 

Loki started pulling on his shirt as well. “Off,” he hissed in between kisses. Thor indulged him. 

As he felt Loki’s long fingers trace the outline of his chest, his abdomen, a shiver ran down his spine. He suddenly needed _more_ , much more. 

He reached around Loki and slammed the fallboard of the piano shut with a bang before forcefully putting Loki on top of it, still fully clothed. His legs curled around Thor immediately and the movement brought their hard cocks together. 

His hips shut forward involuntarily, increasing the friction. 

When Loki’s head fell back with a moan, Thor couldn’t resist licking a wet stripe across the long, pale expanse of skin and Loki cursed. When Thor came up, he could see the reflection of Loki’s face in the shiny black top board of the piano, lost in pleasure, and Thor nearly became undone at the sight.

He fumbled with their belts and trousers until finally – _finally_ – he could rub their naked lenghts together, slippery with precome. Desire coiled through him like lightning. “Loki, I can’t – it’s too –“

“I know, I know,” Loki panted, head coming up to look at their joined cocks. “Do it, Thor, I need –”

Thor rutted against him once, twice – and then Loki started spilling between them. Thor followed him only a few seconds after, resting his forehead against Loki’s as wave after wave of pleasure was pulled from him. 

For a while, they simply stood there, trying to remember how to breathe properly. 

It was Thor who finally broke the silence. “Gods, Loki. That was… intense.”

Loki let out a sharp laugh. “You could say that, yes.”

Thor leaned in for a long kiss. “Would you care for a more thorough exploration later this evening?” he asked when he finally pulled back. 

“Yes,” Loki’s eyes all but sparkled. “After the proclamation.” They froze in unison. _The proclamation._

The next moment, Thor was scrambling for his shirt and coat, as Loki tried to clean the spunk from both his and Thor’s trousers. 

Thor swatted him away. “You’re _not_ helping,” he hissed as he felt his cock twitch in interest once again under Loki’s administrations. 

“Sorry.” Loki smiled, not looking sorry at all. 

When they were finally more or less decent, they took off to the auditorium together, in hopes they hadn’t missed it completely. While they were running, Loki suddenly grabbed Thor’s hand. It made Thor feel impossibly warm inside and so he didn’t let go, even when they were finally at the entrance of the auditorium. 

“Together?” he asked. 

Loki nodded, looking pleased beyond belief. 

The press would go ballistic, Thor realized. _And so would his father_ , but he pushed that thought away for now. 

He smiled at Loki, squeezing his hand, and took a breath before entering. “May the best man win, Loki.” 

"I already did," Loki replied. "But I wouldn't mind winning the contest, as well."

**Author's Note:**

> Thor is playing the Piano Sonata in A major, D.664 by Schubert. Loki is playing Liszt's Sonetto 104 del Petrarcha.


End file.
